Sourdough Bread Recipe and Techniques

Ingredients

Leaven

50 grams whole wheat flour
50 grams bread flour
100 grams water
20 grams starter

Dough

375 grams warm (90-110 degrees Fahrenheit) water
165 grams Leaven
375 grams bread flour
125 grams whole wheat flour (finer ground, commercial/generic whole wheat)
10 grams salt

Technique

Mix all the leaven ingredients together. I use a quart sized translucent plastic container from take-out soup because I like to see the level of the dough inside. I put a thin rubber band around the girth of it at the starting level, and place it in a warm spot and let it grow until it doubles in height. It can take anywhere from three to eight hours, so sometimes I use a dehydrator set to 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit to speed the process. 

When it's doubled, I take 165 grams of the leaven and mix it into the warm water for the dough (it SHOULD float if you let the leaven rise long enough). I put the rest back into the refrigerator for next time. I actually work it into the water, "dissolving" it in so that it's completely dispersed. Then I add just the flours. I mix it together just until it comes together, and then let the dough sit for 15-30 minutes in a bowl under a towel that I wetted completely and wrung out so that the towel is thoroughly damp.

After the wait (which allows it to autolyze and get a good gluten formation) I add the 10 grams of salt, wet my hands and knead and work the salt into the dough for a good five to ten minutes, until it all seems to be fairly uniform.

I let the dough rest in its bowl for 30 minutes in a warm spot under the damp towel and then fold it. 

This video has a pretty good technique for folding the dough for a single set of folds. I actually pull one side up, fold it over, and then turn the bowl 90 degrees, pull it up and fold it over again, and do that at least four times. But I only do the one set of folds and then cover it up and let it rest about another 30 minutes and do it again.

I do this folding and resting cycle for three to four hours, and if the dough is in a warm environment, like the dehydrator, or it's summer, by three hours it's light and obviously has taken on a lot of air. It has formed a sort of skin and you'll be able to see bubble underneath the surface, and it should be smooth and when it ends up folded on itself, it should be trapping all the air within itself. It can take four and once even six hours in the cool of fall or winter outside of my warmer/dehydrator. 

When it feels light enough, redamp the towel, cover it, and put it in the refrigerator overnight (or up to 24 hours). 

When you want to bake the dough, put your Dutch oven into your oven. I actually take the knob off the lid, and put it lid on the bottom with a wok ring to stabilize it, with the pot on the top. I do this because after the initial covered bake, I take the pot off, leaving the bread on the lid, and the bread browns far more evenly with less cover for the second part of the bake. When your Dutch oven is in the oven, turn it on to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and let it come to temp and keep it there for at least fifteen minutes. AFTER everything is to temp, shape the loaf.

I love this video on how to shape a loaf.  I'm trying for more of a batard shape, instead of a boule, it's just easier to slice for us. I DO NOT USE A BASKET. Instead, I just shape it the way they've shaped it, and plop it, seam side down, on a piece of parchment paper. 

Then I do something like this simple scoring technique and make sure that I cut it deeply and from end to end.  The scoring allows the loaf to open up and really rise. And it's a LOT easier when the dough is cold. So I just shape it, plop it on the parchment paper, and then slash it and put it on the lid of my Dutch oven and cover it with the pot part of the Dutch oven.

I bake it for 25 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit in the pot, and then I take the pot off the lid, and let the loaf cook at 450 for 20 minutes until it's deeply brown, almost charred on the edges of the ear. I take it out then, and let it cool on a rack until it's cool to the touch before cutting, about two hours. Some folks like to let it cool at least a day, others say four hours. I like warm bread too much to not break into it, but you might have to adjust your baking times a little. 

This recipe is in development, still, and I've got a few experiments I want to try with a loaf pan and a towel. 😊

Resources

Ingredient amounts were lifted from Woks of Life's sourdough bread recipe, kind of... 
Technique of just baking it right out of the fridge was taken from Paul Rostykus
Some of the mixing and timing was from a recipe for Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson.